This article really made me reflect: Alhamdhulillah, we are indeed blessed with great quantities of food here in the US, but the quality of most of this food is very poor.

As Sr. Shabaana says animals are grown in terrible conditions. They are also fed hormones, antibiotics, unnatural diets that are haram (cows fed ground up meat, corn, etc?). Fruits and veggies are full of pesticides. A lot of it is GMO. Everything else is full of dangerous chemicals.

Quality food is more expensive, and, sometimes not even available. Ie, trying to find local and organic food is a challenge. Organic and halal meat is very difficult – for most, organic, halal and local meat is not a possibility. And what about raw milk (unpasteurized/unhomogenized milk -milk the way the Prophet (s) and his companions drank it?) in many states, its illegal!

I don’t think this a coincidence. We gorge ourselves without thought, ignoring Allah’s commands to eat Quality (Tayyib) and halal food: in response, perhaps Allah has removed the blessing from our food. Much of what we eat today does not really nourish us, and a lot of it is making us sick.

What then happened is that I now eat somewhat less overall than I used to, and I’m far less picky over whether there’s meat in the meal or not. And I’m perfectly ok with that. Of course it does mean I can be more judicious about where I buy food from.

I’m lucky in that I have the means to financially support the tiny ethical efforts available in the market here through my purchasing choices. Nonetheless, I think as with anything ethical – like charity, for example – if you’re going to do it “one day when you can afford to” you must start today, when you can’t. Meaning to say, you have to start with what little you can do, whether occassional purchases you can afford, or spreading awareness, or supporting legislation etc.. Otherwise, even when someday you can afford to, you will not. Because good deeds are primarily enabled by the heart and not by your means.